Facebook & Success

 

How To Create An Successful Website With The Help Of Facebook

The success of an website depends on the traffic you get and then how much of those traffic converts to actual sales. So we can say that lots of consistent traffic to our website over a period of time will definitely lead to the success of our website or say our business.

 

Facebook is the biggest social network on the planet by a long way. It is the third largest website in the world after Google and YouTube and it has billions of users that use it regularly. Now you can leverage the power of Facebook to drive free traffic to your website.

 

To successfully drive free traffic from Facebook you have to know what works and what doesn’t.

 

It is much tougher to get free traffic these days as Facebook want marketers to spend money on ads instead. I will explain which methods to use to get the most free traffic.

 

We have worked hard to provide you with everything that you need to know to use the Facebook platform to generate free traffic. You will find it an easy and engaging read and we encourage you to read it from start to finish and then start to implement the tips and advice you find here.

 

You will learn what successful Facebook marketers do to drive free traffic. What they have done is not rocket science and you can replicate their success easily.

 

Engagement with your audience is essential and I will show you how to achieve that.

 

Other marketers have tried driving free traffic from Facebook and failed. We do not want  you to make the same mistakes that they did so follow the steps in this guide and you will maximize your chances of success.

 

The Reality Of Facebook Traffic

 

It is more difficult to get free traffic from Facebook now than it ever was before. Marketers that have shared a lot of high quality content on Facebook for some time now have seen their engagement numbers dwindle.

 

Facebook is a business at the end of the day and they want marketers to spend money on advertising.

 

So they have taken steps over the last few years to ensure that advertisers have a much greater advantage than those that only use an organic reach approach.

 

If your content is not appearing in the news feeds of your target audience then you are not going to get the results that you want. Facebook users are not going to visit your website as much as they used to.

 

So this begs the all important question – is it still possible to get free traffic from Facebook and not have to spend money on ads? The answer is YES as long as you use the right strategies. You need to follow the same strategies that we will reveal in this blog.

 

Develop a Growth Mindset

 

The most important thing that you can do first is develop a growth mindset when it comes to Facebook. Without this you are very unlikely to succeed.

 

It is very tempting to try and find the latest tips and tricks for free Facebook traffic, but these are usually very temporary and will not help you to become a true influencer on the platform.

 

Being a true influencer is your aim. With the reduced amount of visibility of your content forced by Facebook, you want to ensure that the content that does appear in the news feeds of your target audience will be consumed passionately.

 

Changing your mindset is not easy to do but it is definitely possible. You are going to have some limiting beliefs which will hold you back as far as growing your Facebook profile is concerned. You need to address these on a regular basis to eradicate them.

 

It’s All Been Said Before

 

Do you believe that you have nothing interesting to contribute on a consistent basis? After all it’s all been said before right? Most unsuccessful Facebook marketers suffer from this limiting belief. You can certainly eliminate this belief fairly easily and quickly.

 

A lot of Facebook marketers make the mistake that their audience really cares about their opinion. The harsh reality is that they don’t and they never will (unless you are some kind of global superstar).

 

So what do you do? You need to share the facts with your audience. Provide data and evidence that what you are saying in your posts really works. This is a lot easier to do than you may think.

 

Yes it will take a little more work – but going to your audience with a proven idea is always going to trump your opinion about something. Your audience wants to achieve a specific result so show them that you are the person to help them do this.

 

Everything Has To Be Perfect

 

This is another classic negative belief. Facebook marketers think that they have to create perfect content every time. Perfectionism is a real success killer. There is no such thing as perfect Facebook content.

 

Perfectionism will just hold you back. It is better to put content out there that is not quite perfect than to agonize over that “perfect post”. You will end up posting nothing with this belief. Just add regular posts and then use Facebook Insights to test your engagement levels.

 

Not Having The Right Amount Of Proof

 

You should always go for a proof strategy with your content. But what if you don’t have enough proof?

 

This is another negative belief that will hold you back. Obviously it is better to have more than one source of proof – but if that is all you have then go with it anyway.

 

A single source of proof will be enough to hook people into your Facebook content. After that it is down to your personality. When people know, like and trust you on Facebook they will not be at all concerned that you do not have enough proof. There will always be some people that don’t like your style – that’s OK you don’t want them anyway.

 

My Website And Branding Isn’t Good Enough

 

A lot of marketers believe that they need the fanciest website and branding to succeed with Facebook marketing. The truth is that you don’t. We are not saying that you shouldn’t pay attention to your website and make it the best it can be, but it really doesn’t have to win any design awards to be effective.

 

As before, if people know, like and trust you then they will not care about how fancy your website is. You have put yourself out there on Facebook and provided valuable content to your audience and they really appreciate that.

 

You can eradicate all of these limiting beliefs. If you have any fears about marketing on Facebook then you need to work on these to overcome them. It will take time for you to totally eradicate them but you must do this.

 

Post Regularly And Focus On Value

 

The most important thing that you need to remember is that the quality and consistency of your content is your chief concern. You do not need to post content several times a day like some large organizations do. But you do need a regular posting schedule and the value that you provide is everything.

 

It is still possible to drive a lot of traffic from Facebook to increase your leads and sales but you need to accept that your exposure will not be as great as it would have been a couple of years ago. This makes it even more essential to provide value to your audience so they will start looking for your posts.

 

Next we will discuss how to optimize your Facebook Page so that you get the maximum amount of free traffic…

 

As you probably already know, you need a Facebook Page to perform successful Facebook marketing.

 

It is very easy to setup a new Facebook Page and there are many out there that are not well optimized for free traffic.

 

Have A Great Profile Cover Photo

 

All businesses that have Facebook Pages should use their cover photo as a way to getting users into their sales funnel. This is very valuable real estate that you must use wisely. It’s the first thing that a new visitor will see on your Facebook Page.

 

You need to use a photo that is really eye catching here. If you need help with this then there are some good sellers on Fiverr.com that can help. Add text to your cover photo that your audience will resonate with.

 

In the text tell them what you can do for them – the results that you can help them to achieve. Add the link to your sales funnel on the cover photo as well. Do not waste the opportunity you have here.

 

Sure it is nice to have a picture of you and your partner on the beach but that will not drive more free traffic.

 

Add A Strong Call To Action In Your Intro

 

Your Facebook Page intro is another area that really stands out so make good use of this.

 

Add a benefit here and then your website URL so that they can find out more. As an example your intro could say:

 

“How To Make $10k A Month From Facebook And Your Website – Learn More At yourdomain.com”

 

You do not want your visitors to spend too much time on your Facebook Page. Your goal is to drive them to your website so that they can really get involved. So use your intro to the best effect.

 

Add Links To Your Website

 

There are many Facebook Pages out there that do not have a link to their website. This is just unbelievable but it happens a lot. People tend to be really lazy when it comes to completing their Facebook Page profile. You do not want to do this.

 

There is an About tab on your Facebook Page for a reason. It is your opportunity to tell people who you are and what you stand for. It is also a chance for you to add a link back to your website. A lot of people that visit your Facebook Page are going to check out the About tab. They will also be interested to have a look at your website so put in the effort here.

There are other places in your Facebook Page that you can add a link to your website as well such as the Personal Information and Biography sections. Use all of these opportunities to showcase different parts of your website.

 

For example, you may have a post on your website that provides a lot of value and gets a lot of traffic.

 

You can add a link to this post directly from your Facebook Page. Maybe you have a special offer right now and you want to link to this? Just make sure that you use all of the available links available to you.

 

The About Tab

 

It is really simple to edit your About tab. Just click on the About tab and then look for the “Edit” link for each of the sections. Click the relevant Edit link to change the section e.g. Biography.

 

To add a link to your website in the different sections you will need to use the full URL. You need the “https” component (you are using SSL on your website aren’t you?) and the full domain name and page name. So for example:

 

https://yourdomain.com/mybestpost

 

Just click on save when you are done with your edits. Don’t just add links to your About tab. Provide valuable information about yourself, your business and how you can help people. Make this compelling and don’t just write anything. Use your copywriting skills to persuade people to follow you.

 

The Page Milestone Technique

 

Did you know that you can add links to your website using page milestones? If you are not sure what a page milestone is, it is basically a significant event in the growth of your business. You can, and should, feature these milestones on your Facebook Page.

 

It’s simple to add a page milestone. Under your cover image you will see a button with three dots.

 

Click on this and a menu appears in a drop down box. At the end you will see “Create Milestone” so click on this.

 

Facebook calls this a story. You need to add a good title, description and the date of the milestone.

 

Always add a relevant image to your milestone as well. You can add a link to an external website here too using the full URL as you did in the About tab.

 

You need to come up with some good milestones and not just write anything. Your milestones are your story and they provide a good way for you to connect with your audience. Add milestones that will trigger emotions.

 

People love “zero to hero” stories so make good use of this. We will cover your back story in the next chapter.

 

When you add your milestones you want to leave people wanting more so you can use a cliffhanger technique to persuade them to click the link that you have added to each milestone.

For example, you could tell them how you made your first full dollars online and then tell your visitors that they can see more details by clicking the link.

 

Plan your Facebook Page Profile

 

You can always edit your About tab and your milestones on your Facebook Page. We recommend that you plan everything out and ensure that you have more information available on your website.

 

At the end of the day, getting Facebook users to your website is what it is all about. So we encourage you to think carefully about the information you add to your Facebook Page. If you don’t complete the sections or just enter a few words as the bare minimum then you are missing a golden opportunity for free traffic.

 

The more influence you can create with your Facebook Page the more free traffic you will drive to your website. So you need to aim to be as big an influencer as you can. To kick this off really well you need a convincing personal story. If you don’t have a good back story then your influence will be extremely limited.

 

It doesn’t matter if the Facebook Page is about your business or you as an individual. There is always a good back story you can add. When you are coming up with ideas for your personal story, have the “zero to hero” approach uppermost in your mind.

 

Zero to Hero Story

 

People really like a rags to riches back story:

 

• You only had 2 bucks in your pocket and the rent was due

• Living in your car for a while was the only option

• You tried so many times to be successful online and it wasn’t happening for you

• You spent all that you had in training courses but it still wasn’t working

• Your family thought that you were mad and tried to persuade you to get a job

 

You get the idea right? What all of these things tell your visitors is that you were nobody and had nothing when you first started out. They will be encouraged by this and it will give them hope that you have the answer to their questions.

They will want to know what you did to make it work. What mindset changes did you have to make?

 

What people did you have to connect with? What methods did you use to become successful? There are many more questions that you can answer when you have a compelling zero to hero personal story.

 

Prepare your Story

 

OK now it is time for you to prepare your story. We are not recommending that you are dishonest here. But you do want to paint the most desperate picture that you can with your story. Maybe you had a job that gave you a comfortable life but inside you were miserable because you wanted to create your own destiny?

 

There are a number of ways that you can make your personal story really impactful. The best way to start is to write down your struggle and how you got started. Commit this to your memory so that you can always tell the same story on your website, your Facebook Page and in real life too.

 

Provide as much detail as you can in your story. Add in some high points (e.g. making your first sale online) and plenty of low points (e.g. you tried several different methods and none of them worked out or you had to take a menial job just to pay the bills while you were figuring it all out).

 

Show your Visitors you are Still Human

 

One of the dangers of becoming successful is that you lose touch with who you were. This is not something that you want to do on your Facebook Page (or anywhere for that matter). You do not want your visitors to think that you are aloof and unapproachable. A lot of marketers make this mistake.

 

Don’t add photos to your profile of your fancy cars and your fancy home. Some people will tell you that this is all part of showing your visitors what is possible. This is true to an extant but if you overdo it then you will just drive people away.

 

If your visitors cannot resonate with you then you will never get them on board. If it is well known that you are a marketing genius for example, then don’t brag about that in any way.

 

People will be unable to identify with that. It is best to stay humble and remember your roots no matter how successful you are now.

 

Explain your journey in detail. Talk about the time that you had nothing or had not experienced any success all the way to the present day. Tell your visitors that if a “nobody” like you can do it then they can do it too.

 

Always remember that people will conduct further research on you to “check you out”. So your story needs to be consistent on all of your channels:

• Your website

• Your LinkedIn profile

• Your YouTube channel

• Any other social profiles

 

This is a good thing because it shows that the visitor is interested in getting to know you more. They want to be sure that you are the genuine article and not some Internet fraudster. So ensure that there is consistency in all of your public profiles.

 

If one of your other channels has a personal story that conflicts with your Facebook Page story thenyou will be in trouble. So take the time to check everything out and make any necessary changes. Your personal story really is critical to your influencer success so it needs to be good and consistent.

 

• In the next chapter we will discuss how to give your audience what they want…

 

You need to know what your audience wants and how they are likely to behave to drive the maximum amount of free traffic from Facebook. If you already have a Facebook profile and have been posting content for a while then you can use Facebook Insights to see what has worked the best for you.

 

If Facebook is new to you then you can other methods to see which type of posts get the most engagement in your niche. We will discuss this a little later. Knowing your audience is critical to success on Facebook. You need to know who they are, where they are and what problems they have.

 

Using Facebook Insights To Find Content That Works

 

If you have posted content on Facebook for a while then it is really easy to see what content your audience responded the best to using Facebook Insights. By doing this you can then plan ahead to create similar and post similar content as a way to drive more free traffic from Facebook.

 

Go into your Facebook Insights and below the overview charts you can see data on your last 5 posts.

 

Then you can choose to look at the data for all of your posts by clicking on “See All Posts”.

You will be able to see the reach of each post and the levels of engagement. The engagement metrics you are most interested in are:

 

• Clicks

• Comments

• Shares

 

The number of clicks is definitely something that you want to take a good look at as this is the number of users that clicked through to your website. There are a number of factors that can influence the number of clicks that a post receives on Facebook:

 

• The topic of the post

• The description

• The type of content – text, image, video etc

• The day the post appeared

• The time the post appeared

 

We recommend that you use a spreadsheet here such as Google Sheets and add your most clicked posts to the sheet along with the information above (post topic, description, content type etc). This will provide you with even more insight into what works the best. The aim with your Facebook posts is to get your audience to click so don’t skip this step.

 

Knowing when to share your Facebook posts is very important. There has been a lot of research in this area and the outcome of this is that posting on Thursday through to Sunday at 9am, 1pm and 3pm are the best posting times.

 

This is general information and you shouldn’t take it literally. These days and times may not be the best for your target audience. You need to find out when your audience is around and post at these times.

 

Facebook Insights will tell you when your audience is around. Under “When Your Fans Are Online” you will be able to see the most active days and times for your audience. Pay careful attention to this so that you can schedule future posts to coincide with this information.

 

Facebook has a schedule feature that is very easy to use and you should use it once you know the best times for your audience. All you need to do is to set a date and time and Facebook will post your content accordingly.

 

Avoid using Clickbait

 

You may think that using clickbait is a clever way to drive free traffic from Facebook but they have been clamping down on these types of posts for a number of years now. How do you define a clickbait post? Well these have a degree of sensationalism about them that really mislead the user.

 

A couple of examples will explain this more clearly:

“Movie star forced out of nightclub by security” – this post does not reveal the name of the celebrity and is therefore withholding information from the user.

 

“Use this one trick to lose 14 pounds in seven days” – this is just a misleading title A few years ago these kinds of clickbait titles would have got a lot of clicks on Facebook. As a result of this they would appear higher in user news feeds to get even more clicks. But Facebook started to notice that the quality of the content that users clicked through to was poor quality.

 

They did some user research and discovered that 80% of the time their users preferred to read headlines that actually helped them to decide whether they should click through to read a full article or not. Facebook then started measuring the time that users spent on the external page before they would go back to Facebook.

 

The message is clear here. When you are creating your posts for Facebook and you want users to click through to your website don’t use headlines that they will consider clickbait.

 

You can do this by avoiding language that is:

• Exaggerated

• Misleading

• Sensational

 

Tell Facebook users what they can expect when they click through to your website. This will help them to make the decision to click or not and will keep you in Facebook’s good books as well.

 

When a user clicks through to your website make sure that the content is related and that it is engaging. Keep them on your site as long as possible.

 

Your website needs to have fast loading times and be optimized for mobile devices. You may think that this is obvious but there have been thousands of examples where this was not the case and there still are today.

 

Forget About Engagement Posts Too

 

Your aim with Facebook content should always be to gain as much engagement as you can because this will ultimately lead to more free Facebook traffic. But you need to avoid any tactics that try to increase engagement levels as Facebook is totally against this.

 

Facebook call this “engagement bait” and in 2017 they changed their algorithm to incorporate machine learning to restrict the use of these tactics. The algorithm change looked for posts that tried to persuade users to engage such as asking them to comment, share, like or tag for example.

 

The algorithm will restrict the reach of Facebook Pages that continually use these tactics. So our advice is to avoid using these terms in your posts:

 

• Comment

• Tag

• Vote

• Like

 

It just makes a lot of sense to avoid doing things that Facebook doesn’t like in an attempt to get more clicks.

 

Stop Making Image or Video Posts With Links In Descriptions 

Facebook wants you to share links using their native link posting feature. They do not want you to add an image or a video and then place your link in the caption. You will clash with the Facebook algorithm if you do this and you will find that your reach becomes restricted.

 

Always use a link post. Facebook wants you to do this so that they can create a preview which includes the headline, an image and a description. They believe that this enables their users to make a more qualified decision about clicking through.

 

Using Other Facebook Channels To identify Popular Content

 

If you are new to Facebook then this is a good way to find out what types of posts are popular. Even if you are an experienced user you should be doing this as well. All you need to do here is use the search facility within Facebook by entering a related keyword to your niche and then finding Facebook Groups where you believe your target audience would hang out.

 

For example you could search for “make money online” and you will see a list of groups returned. You could also use search terms like “Internet marketing” and “work from home”.

 

Once you have the search results then click on “Groups” in the menu bar.

 

Now you need to join the groups that you think are right for your audience. Once accepted you can take a look inside to see what topics people discuss regularly. Look for questions that group members ask and seek out posts that receive high levels of engagement. Make a list and use this for future post content ideas.

 

 Next we will discuss the types of content that really drive free traffic from Facebook…

 

There are different types of content that you can post on your Facebook page. We will

look at four types of content that usually get good results in terms of engagement.

 

We recommend that you create a posting schedule and plan in advance so that you post regularly. Once your followers know, like and trust you they will expect consistent posting.

 

Make Your Content Shareable

 

One way that you will definitely increase the amount of free traffic that you get from Facebook is to make your content very “share worthy”. Not every post that you make is going to get a lot of shares – but keep this in mind when you are making all of your posts.

 

You want as many of your followers to share your content with their friends. If one person shares a post that you make on Facebook with their 200 friends, and only 1% of those friends (2 people) then shares it again with their 200 friends then you are really ramping up your chances of getting more free traffic.

 

How do you create share-worthy posts? Here are some ideas:

 

Make Them Highly Arousing

 

Injecting emotion into your posts is the best way to make it share-worthy. You want to inspire the users and fire them up about something. When a Facebook user is fired up over a post they are far more likely to share it.

 

One of the best things that you can do is to trigger anxiety. Entertaining your followers is a good thing to do as well. You can use other emotional triggers like humor, fear, awe and outrage.

 

Have A Strong Call To Action

 

To get people to do what you want online you have to ask them. Don’t leave it to them to figure out what you want them to do because they will not bother to do that. Just tell them what you want them to do.

 

You can ask your followers to share your content. Be specific here and ask them to share with someone that they think would benefit from it. It is possible to incentivize sharing on Facebook. You could give something away for free such as a valuable report to those that share your posts.

 

Power Words

 

If you know anything about copywriting you will have heard of “power words”. When you use these power words in your posts you will encourage more people to share your content and take any other actions that you want them to.

 

There are hundreds of power words that you can use in your posts. Rather than try to list them all here we recommend that you check out this great resource:

 

https://sumo.com/stories/power-words

 

Create Shareable Images

 

Eye catching images will always be shared on Facebook. The most shareable images are those that contain text on them. You do not have to be a Photoshop expert to add good looking text to an image.

 

Just use one of the following free design websites:

 

1. Canva

2. Pic Monkey

3. Word Swag

 

There are plenty of websites where you can find copyright free images as well such as pixabay.com and pexels.com.

 

You need to make the image and the message related to where you will send the user. So if you have a post on your website about avoiding costly mistakes in Internet marketing you could create a humorous image of a person with empty pockets and use the words “don’t make these costly mistakes with your online business”.

 

Interviews With Experts

 

Any Facebook content that features people is going to make it more share-worthy. The people that you interview will want to share your post with their audiences which will increase your reach and get you more free Facebook traffic.

 

Do some homework and find out who your audience really respect in your niche. Find out if they have a large following and then contact them and ask to interview them. It is actually a good idea to follow them first and interact with them before asking for an interview as this will increase the chances of them saying “yes”.

 

You need to accept that not everyone is going to agree to an interview. Most people probably will as they will like giving their opinion. So don’t just pin your hopes on one person. Find a number of people in your niche that would be a good fit.

 

Create a Roundup

 

A roundup is an article where there are a number of contributors. So here you want to think about an article topic and then find a number of people on Facebook to contribute to it. You need to choose a topic that will be popular with your target audience.

 

After writing your article, post it on your website. Then create a Facebook post telling people all about the article. Ask the people that contributed to the article to share your Facebook post with their friends. This is a great way to get more free traffic from Facebook.

 

Use A List Post With Credits

 

Roundup posts are really good but they take a great deal of time to create. As an alternative you can create a list post which mentions and provides credit to others without them having to do anything.

 

So for example, if you are in the Internet marketing niche you could write a list post like “10 reasons why you must do email marketing” and then mention people that you know in the industry and credit them by using their words and quotes etc.

 

In your Facebook post you can tag these people as well. Also contact them directly using Facebook messenger and send them an email as well telling them about your post and the fact that they are mentioned in it.

 

Incentives and Freebies

 

You can use freebies and incentives to get a lot of free traffic from Facebook. Make a Facebook post telling your followers about the freebie and link to a landing page on your website. You can ask your visitors to opt in to your email list to receive the freebie.

 

Facebook likes people to spend time on your site when they click through so keep this in mind.

 

If you are not sure what freebies to offer your audience then ask them to tell you. Make a Facebook post with a number of different ideas that are numbered (e.g. 1 to 5). Then ask them to type in the number of the incentive that most appeals to them. Typing a number is easy so you should get a good response from this.

 

Once you know what your audience wants the most tell your audience in the comment thread. As your audience helped you to choose the best incentive they will be a lot more likely to click through to get it.

 

In the next chapter we will discuss how video can bring you a lot of free Facebook traffic…

 

People just love videos. YouTube.com is the second largest website on the planet with billions of views each month. Facebook users love videos too and there are more than 8 billion video views each day on the platform.

 

It is so easy to watch a video to learn something rather than read text. People are lazy, so you need to help them as much as you can consume your content. The problem with video is that it takes time and effort (and money) to make them. But the results that you can get make this investment very worthwhile.

 

In this chapter we will look at the best way to create video content for Facebook users. Most

marketers make mistakes here so please follow the advice below to get the most from every video that you post.

 

Use Square Videos and Upload Natively

 

There is a lot of research out there that shows square type videos outperform landscape (YouTube) style videos for engagement, reach and views. You need to remember that the vast majority of Facebook users will view their Facebook feed using their mobile device and square videos just look better.

 

The bias towards mobile is so great that estimates now suggest that over 92% of Facebook users are on mobile devices. More than half the video views on Facebook happen on a mobile device and a square style video takes up almost 80% more real estate in mobile news feeds. These are statistics that you simply cannot ignore!

 

Another thing that you might want to test is the use of vertical style videos because now Facebook provides larger previews for vertical videos in mobile news feeds. Making videos that work well in Facebook is much easier now with online tools such as InVideo and Animoto available.

A lot of marketers use links to YouTube videos in Facebook and only get mediocre results with these.

 

The truth is that the interaction rate with Facebook native videos is far higher. In this instance the term “native” means a video uploaded directly to Facebook).

 

So we recommend that you make separate videos for Facebook. You can make short videos which provide value and then you can provide a link so that the user can get more information on your website or another external site (your YouTube channel perhaps?).

 

You Have 3 Seconds To Grab Attention

 

When you upload a video to Facebook it will auto-play to grab the attention of the user.

 

Facebook wants their users to watch more videos. So this means that the first few seconds of your videos have to really grab the attention of Facebook users even without the sound on.

 

One of the best things that you can do to get attention to your videos is to add a custom thumbnail.

 

Go and create an eye catching thumbnail using a free graphic design program like Canva.com and thenupload it during the Facebook native uploading process. Make the first few seconds of your video really count!

 

Add Captions

 

Just because videos now auto-play in a user’s news feed does not mean that they watch them with the sound turned on. It is easy for a Facebook user to disable the sound with auto-play videos and a lot do this. This is especially true with mobile devices. So you will never know if a user has watched your video with sound or not.

 

So you need to help the user understand your video if they don’t have the sound on. If you don’t do this then you will lose them very fast. The most effective way to do this is to use captions with your videos.

 

When you natively upload your video to Facebook you will be provided with the option to upload an SRT file which contains your captions. You can also take advantage of the auto-captioning feature which is now working in Facebook.

 

Alternatively, you can add captions to your videos when you create them. This is easy to do using InVideo or Animoto for example. The advantage of using these video editing programs is that you can change font size and color to really make your captions stand out and engage your audience.

 

Create Videos With A Single Point

 

Another mistake that marketers make with Facebook videos is that they try to cram too much into them. The best videos on Facebook that get shared the most have a single point that is easy to understand.

 

Think about this for a minute – when someone shares a video with their friends they will normally add a sentence to explain what the video is about. If you cannot easily explain your video in a single sentence then it is too complicated. Facebook users are rarely looking for complicated videos. They can go to YouTube for that.

 

When you are creating your videos think about why a user would want to share it. The main reasons why people share Facebook videos are:

 

• They want to be sociable

• They want to express their feelings on a particular subject

• They want to brag or show off

• They want the credit for being the first to discover the video

• They want to make their friends laugh

 

If your videos will help your audience to achieve these things then you can expect a lot of shares.

 

Give Your Video A Searchable Title

 

Did you know that there are over 2 billion searches a day in Facebook? Well there are, so it is a good idea that you give your video a descriptive title that is searchable. The title should contain your main keyword and then you can add video tags which will help people find it through search.

 

Use Good Copy With Your Videos

 

When you are writing the copy for your videos it is a good idea to briefly describe what your video is about. It’s important that you provide this information so that users can determine if they want to spend the time watching your video. Facebook applauds this and goes a step further by recommending that add a key quote from the video in your copy.

 

So take your time when crafting your video copy. It is really important as it can literally mean the difference between a user watching your video or not watching it. Together with an attractive thumbnail your copy will attract attention.

 

Adding A Call To Action

 

Facebook has removed the call to action functionality from free videos but you can still add a link in your copy. You need to add a call to action to all of your videos so that you drive up engagement and get as much free traffic to your website as you can.

 

Here are the most popular free ways to add a call to action to your Facebook videos:

 

In your post copy

 

• In the video itself

• At the end of the video

 

You can add a link to your website in your post copy. Tell the users that they can find out more on your site by clicking on the link. Also tell them that you would be delighted if they asked questions in the comment section.

 

When you are making your video you can add a call to action by talking about it and also in caption form (remember that not all users will have the sound on). Do this in the middle of the video for the best results.

 

We recommend that you have an image at the end of the video that echoes the call to action during the video and in the post copy. Let this image play out for a few seconds so that the viewer gets the message.

 

Check The Performance Of Your Videos

 

It’s always a good thing to use Facebook Insights to see how well (or not) your videos are performing.

 

You can see important metrics here such as:

 

• Video views

• Average watch time

• Minutes viewed

 

These metrics provide an indication of the engagement levels of your videos. The average watch time is important as it will tell you when people stopped watching your video. You may find that after digging into this that a lot of users stopped watching at roughly the same time. Check out this point of the video to understand why.

 

Look at the post engagement metrics for your videos. You can see at a glance the numbers of users reached, clicks, likes, shares and so on. This will give you very good insight on which videos are getting the most engagement.

 

Facebook Live

 

One way that you can definitely get more video views and free traffic from Facebook is by using Facebook Live. The Facebook algorithm gives priority to live videos as they are the best for engaging their users.

 

During your Facebook Live session Facebook records your video and when you have finished it is automatically posted on your Facebook Page. It is not uncommon for live videos to get thousands of views very quickly especially if they are targeted to the needs of your audience.

 

Next we will discuss the power of Facebook Groups to generate free traffic…

 

If you are not using Facebook Groups to generate free traffic then you are missing out.

 

There are usually several Facebook Groups for all niches and if you use them properly you can generate a lot of traffic as well as grow your audience.

 

The main reason that Facebook Groups are so good for free traffic generation is because they provide you with greater visibility. Some of the groups on Facebook have thousands of members. When you become a member of these groups you can get your message across to them.

 

You can reply to comments left by others in the group or make your own posts. It is important that you know that you cannot join a group with your Facebook Page. You have to use your personal Facebook profile instead. Link your Facebook Page to your personal profile by listing it under your “work experience” section.

 

Finding Relevant Groups

 

It is really easy to find niche related groups by using keywords and Facebook search. So if you are in the “make money online” niche then just enter terms that are relevant such as:

 

• Make money online

• Work from home

• Passive income

• Internet marketing

• Digital marketing

• Online business

• Online entrepreneur

 

If you are in a specific sub-niche you can identify the most relevant keywords and use these to search.

 

Here are some examples:

 

• Video marketing

• Social media marketing

• Email marketing

• SEO

• Traffic generation

• Podcasting

• Paid advertising

 

Using the right keywords is important here. There are a number of ways that you can create a list of keywords relevant to your niche. Using the free Google Keyword Planner is one of the easiest ways to do this.

 

Once you receive a list of groups look for those that have the most activity and have a large member base. If a group is closed (and a lot of them are) then you will not be able to see this. In this case you will need to request to join the group and once accepted you can then see the activity levels.

 

Add Value First

 

We recommend that you join around 5 to 10 related Facebook Groups at a time. Not all of them are going to be winners. When you join each group be sure to read the rules and any guidelines.

 

A lot of marketers are impatient and will start making posts with links to their website straight away.

 

You do not want to do this. It can get you banned from a group very quickly. You need to add value to the group before you start trying to drive traffic to your site.

 

The easiest way to get started is to make a post about who you are and what you do. This is a “getting to know you” post which is perfectly acceptable. A number of group members will respond to your post and welcome you to the group.

 

You need to check the group rules to see if it is OK for you to provide links back to your website. Most groups will allow this but a small number may not. If you can’t add links back to your site then the group is a waste of time for you.

 

Promo Days in Groups

 

A lot of groups have “promo days” where you can openly promote your website, products and services. If a group has promo days then the owner will have a list of which days promotions are allowed so you need to find this.

 

When you are a member of several different groups then we recommend that you create a

spreadsheet of the promo days for each of these. If you are in enough groups then you will find that you can promote your stuff several times each week.

 

Once you have established yourself in the groups then use the 80/20 rule for promotion and content creation. You want to organize it so that you spend 80% of your time on promoting your content and 20% of your time on new content creation. This will help you to generate the most free traffic.

 

Content Repurposing

 

You still need to be active on non promo days or else you will be in danger of being kicked out as someone that only wants to use the group for promotional purposes. So what do you do? Well you are still going to promote your content but do it in a smart way.

 

Content repurposing is the answer here. When you make posts in groups that add a lot of value then your credibility as a group member will increase. Other group members will begin to see you as an authority and this is exactly what you want.

 

So where do you get the content to repurpose from? Well the best place will be your website.

 

Assuming that you are an expert in your niche you will have posted some valuable content on your site. You can create posts in Facebook groups that:

 

• Summarize key strategies or outcomes of a post on your site

• Provide insight into the main points of a post on your site

• Provide new strategies and tips that are not covered in the original post

 

When you are doing this you can legitimately provide a link to the original posts that you are

repurposing. The group owner should not have a problem with this as you are providing value to the group as a whole.

 

So you need to start finding and joining related groups on Facebook so that you can provide value to them and enhance your status as an expert and someone of influence. Take your time over this strategy and it will work well for you. Promote when you are able and repurpose content as well.

 

Comment on other posts and contribute as much as you can.

 

Next we will discuss why you need to create your own Facebook Group to generate free

traffic…

 

Creating your own Facebook Group is something that you must do to generate free traffic. It will tell people that you are worth listening too and provide you with all of the influence that you need if you do it right. You are in control when you have your own Facebook Group.

 

We recommend that you create a closed Facebook Group. Give your group an enticing name that will be appealing to your audience. Don’t try to be too clever with your group name.

 

You want your group to be found if someone searches so add your main keyword in your group name. Use other keywords in the tags section for search as well.

 

A closed group has a more exclusive feel to it rather than an open group where anyone can join. By creating a closed group you will make your members fell protected and free to make any connections.

 

Don’t go for a secret group as these do not appear in searches and are almost impossible to find.

 

Now you need to take steps to optimize your group to attract members.

 

Add a Compelling Cover Image

 

We recommended in an earlier chapter that you use a good cover photo for your Facebook Page with a good slogan and the same applies here. A Facebook Group is a great way to promote your brand so use a high quality image and slogan that lets people know why the group is worth joining.

 

Be sure to add your group name to the image as well as your website address. Don’t overhype the photo by adding images of dollars etc. This will make it look cheap. Think carefully about what kind of image (including a photo of you) would be the most attractive. People want to know who you are so always add your best photo.

 

Create a Compelling Description

 

Before people apply to join groups on Facebook they will read the description to make sure that it is worth their while. So you need to write a compelling description that tells them that this is the group to join. Treat your description as a sales page for your group.

 

Always add a link to your website in the group description. People will certainly click on this link to check you out so decide what page on your site puts you in the best light. Think benefits to the members when you are writing your description.

 

What’s in it for them?

 

If you have an email list (which of course you should have) then you could add a link to a landing page on your website in an attempt to get new subscribers. Whatever page you choose as your landing page, leave a link back to your Facebook Group and encourage the visitor to join it.

 

Get your First Members

 

When you first create your group you have to add at least one member. Nobody will want to join a Facebook Group that only has one member, so talk to some of your friends and family and ask them to join before you start to promote your group. Help them out by sending them things to post and teach them to make comments and interact.

 

As you get more members joining your group you can remove these initial members if that is what you want and they want. We recommend that you advertise your new Facebook Group on your website.

 

Tell everyone about it in your email newsletter as well and use any of your other social profiles to get the word out about your exciting new group.

 

Create a Pinned Post

You want to create a post that will be the first that new members will see when they join your group.

 

This is easy to d with a “pinned” post. This is a great opportunity for you to welcome new members and add a link to your website to get more free traffic. Tell new members that they will find the latest and best information about your niche here.

 

Creating a video to add to your pinned post will help a lot too. Add a Facebook Group rules page to your website and add this link to your pinned post as well. Be sure to add any external URL’s before the “read more” cutoff occurs in the post.

 

You must add a call to action to your pinned post. This must be for new members to visit your website for a specific reason – you can provide an incentive for them to join your email list for example.

 

Other Ways To Get More Members For Your Group

 

If you intend to run a high quality group with lots of valuable content then it will be pretty easy for you to get new members. The first thing to do is to add your new group to the menu on your website.

 

Many people will visit your website and never return, but they may well be interested in having your content show up in their Facebook news feed.

 

Another good way to get more group members is to partner with other groups in your niche. You should have already found some other groups in your niche where you are now a member so contact the owners to do a deal.

 

Ask them if they will recommend that their members should join your group if you do the same for them. Not all of the group owners will go for this but some will. Try to find related groups that are of a similar size for this method to work best. If you only have 10 members and you ask a group owner with thousands of members this is unlikely to work.

 

Use the “cross post” tactic with other related groups. First create a value packed post in your group that a lot of your members respond positively to. Then create a new post in other groups telling them that this is a cross post from your group. Some people will be curious about your group, check it out and then become members.

 

Content For Your Group

 

You need to post some great content in your group to drive free traffic to your website. Post all of your content under the “Discussion” tab, as that is where your members will expect to see it.

 

Encourage your members to post content as well. You do not want the only content to be yours.

As you build your group membership you want to aim for the amount of posts that come from you to be fairly low at around 10% to 20%. If members see that a lot of posts are generated by you then they may feel that the group is all about promoting your stuff and want to leave.

 

Your content needs to be very relevant and add value. Don’t just create a post with a link in it to your website or YouTube channel for example. Aim to start a discussion each time that you post by adding personal messages in the description. You can be a lot more personal with your group posts than you can with those on your Facebook Page.

 

Answer questions that your members will have in your posts. This will help to encourage discussion in the group and further questions from members. It is a great way to conduct research for future posts that you can create.

 

By answering specific questions you will establish yourself as an expert and someone with influence in your niche. You can provide brief answers to questions in your group posts and answer them in full on your website by way of a link in the post.

 

Here is a good example of a question – ask your members what they are struggling with right now.

 

This is bound to raise a few responses which you can build upon. Find out what the most common trends are in your niche and create posts on your website about these as well. Then share these posts in your Facebook Group.

 

At last we will take a look at the best practices that you need to follow to get the

maximum free traffic from Facebook…

 

Here are the 8 best practices that we strongly recommend that you follow to generate the maximum amount of free traffic from Facebook. It is still possible to drive a lot of free traffic from Facebook and we believe that if you follow these best practices you will have the maximum chance of success.

 

1.    Understand the Reality of Free Facebook Traffic

 

Facebook wants you to spend money on advertising and they have made it more difficult to drive free traffic from the social platform. While it is still possible to generate a good amount of free Facebook traffic you need to use the right methods. You need to eliminate any negative beliefs you may have about Facebook and develop a growth mindset.

 

2.    Optimize your Facebook Page

 

You need to make your Facebook Page as appealing as possible. This starts with a great cover photo that clearly communicates your message and benefits to your audience. Create a compelling intro with a good call to action. Complete the About section and the others and add links to your website in each of them.

 

3.    Create a Great Back Story

 

The more that you can connect with your audience, the more likely you are to drive free traffic from Facebook. You need a good back story that tells your audience how you went from “zero to hero”.

 

Your story needs to inspire them to believe that they can be successful as well with your help of course.

 

4.    Give Your Audience What They Want

 

By giving your audience what they want you will maximize your chances of driving free Facebook traffic. Do everything you can to find out what your audience wants. What problems do they have that you can help them with? Join relevant groups to find out what kind of content is the most popular and use Facebook Insights to check your own posts.

 

5.    Post the right Content for Facebook Traffic

 

You want your posts to receive a lot of engagement (likes, comments and shares). Getting your posts shared is great as it will help to grow your audience and extend your reach. Use tactics to increase the “share-worthiness” of your posts. Create posts that include contributions from well respected people in your niche.

 

6.    Facebook Native Video

 

There are billions of video views on Facebook each day. Instead of adding videos to YouTube and then linking to these, upload videos to the Facebook platform (native). Facebook gives much higher priority to native vides. People like live video so use Facebook Live to drive more traffic.

 

7.    Relevant Facebook Groups

 

You can drive free traffic by joining relevant Facebook Groups and making a valuable contribution. Never spam a Facebook Group with your links. Always add value in your posts and comments. Find the most active groups and contribute on a regular basis. Take advantage of any promo days that they offer.

 

8.    Create your own Facebook Group

 

When you have your own Facebook Group you can almost guarantee a lot of free traffic if you do things right. Make sure that you setup your group correctly. Go for a closed group and add an enticing, benefit laden cover photo and description. Create a valuable pinned post welcoming members.

 

Encourage members to make their own posts in the group.

 

If you have read this guide from start to finish you will have a good understanding of how you can use Facebook to generate free traffic for your business. It is important that you do not just jump onto the platform without knowing what you are doing.

 

Facebook users are looking for informative and entertaining content. Brands and organizations that have used the platform successfully for marketing know this and have posted the right content to get the users involved in their business. If you want free traffic from Facebook you must do the same.

 

Now it is over to you. While reading this guide will make you a bit smarter only by taking action will you be able to leverage the Facebook platform to generate the free traffic that you want.

 

We hope that you found this guide to be informative and useful. Get started today with your Facebook marketing. We wish you every success promoting your business on the world’s largest social platform!